Session

Live Legacy Code Refactoring with the Golden Master and the Mikado Method

“Yesterday, I continued my refactoring. I should be done today...” Have you ever been in this situation of repeating this same message over and over in for days and days?

In a developer’s day to day work, refactoring (untested) legacy code remains one of the most tricky and complicated tasks. “Don’t touch it!” is the most widespread recommendation. Unfortunately, we spend at least 80% of our time in ‘Legacy’. Better be ready!

During this live coding kata, discover, with your own eyes, how to refactor untested legacy code with the golden master and the mikado method techniques. You’ll understand how:
* The Golden Master can help you temporarily ‘snapshot’ the behavior of a piece of code by assertions IOs
* The Mikado Method avoids the tunnel effect by splitting large refactorings in a graph of small deployable steps
* Both techniques reduce risks,
* contribute to a sustainable pace,
* complement each other for maximum effect
* Although I'll use Java, the techniques are adaptable to many language or contexts

Eager to take on Legacy refactoring? It starts here 😃


This is a 50 to 60 minutes live-coding conference. It's mainly targeting developers struggling with legacy code. It was first delivered publicly at Agile France in 2019 and later at XPDays Benelux 2019 and Devoxx Paris 2021.

Philippe Bourgau

Agile & Craft coach, solving technical challenges with people collaboration

Paris, France

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